For the schedule of upcoming events, see the list below. For the monthly Queries, see September: Personal Relationships. (The blue text on this page and within this web site contains embedded hypertext links. Click on a link to open the web page associated with that link.)
Announcements
We are happy to announce that Reno Friends Meeting has returned to the Meeting House for Silent Worship at 10:00 am on Sundays. Twice a month, on First and Third Sundays, we will have Hybrid Silent Worship, which will be both on Zoom and In-Person from the Meeting House. Our First Day School for children is open, with a varied schedule of classes on Zoom or in the Meeting House garden (for COVID safety.) We are also holding online meetings, spiritual discussions, book discussions and yoga on Zoom. For details on using Zoom, see our Zoom guidelines.
September 2022 Reno Friends Meeting Schedule
Sun. Sept. 4 – Hybrid Silent Worship (on Zoom and In-Person), 10 am (details)
Wed. Sept. 7 – BONUS Embodying the Light at Lake Park, 10-11 am (details)
Sun. Sept. 11 – In-Person Silent Worship, 10 am (details)
Sun. Sept. 11 – Zoom First Day School, on “Equality/Equity,” 10 am (details)
Sun. Sept. 11 – Zoom Meeting for Business, 12:30 pm (NOTE NEW TIME) (details)
Tues. Sept. 13 – RFM Book Club on Zoom, 4-5 pm (details)
Wed. Sept. 14 – Embodying the Light on Zoom, 10-11 am (details)
Thurs. Sept. 15 – In-Person Brown Bag Lunch, with Melanie and Peg, 12 noon (details)
Sun. Sept. 18 – Hybrid Silent Worship (Zoom and In-Person), 10 am (details)
Sun. Sept. 25 – In-Person Silent Worship, 10 am (details)
Sun. Sept. 25 – In-Person First Day School (outside) on “Equality/Equity,” 10 am (details)
Sun. Sept. 25 – Garden Potluck 11:30 am (details)
Tues. Sept. 27 – Zoom Spiritual Discussion on “Intro to Quakerism 101” 7-8:30 pm (details)
Wed. Sept. 28 – Embodying the Light on Zoom, 10-11 am (details)
Other Important Dates
October 14th – 16th – College Park Fall Quarterly at Sierra Friends Center, near Nevada City, CA
Reno Friends Meeting Event Details & Other Notices
Join Us for Silent Worship Back in the Meeting House
Reno Friends Meeting has returned to the Meeting House for Silent Worship, at 10:00 am, with fellowship afterwards. We ask that attenders be vaccinated, boosted, and wear a mask for indoor activities. If necessary, we may open doors and/or windows for air. We plan to run our air purifiers. If you are not feeling well, we ask that you stay home, even if you are vaccinated.
For Hybrid Worship, we will use a webcam and a small video screen so that in-person attendees and remote/Zoom attendees can see each other. The chairs inside the Meeting House that will be off camera are so marked, so you may sit off camera if you prefer. If you are moved to speak during hybrid Silent Worship, please use the mic or ask for the handheld mic so that everyone, including remote attendees, can hear you.
Going forward, we plan to hold Hybrid Silent Worship (Zoom and In-Person) twice a month on First and Third Sundays. Here is the recurring Zoom link for Hybrid Silent Worship:
https://zoom.us/j/98305205938?pwd=cDZseGdLbWMyYWZsZDdiN00rMjRUZz09
For Hybrid Silent Worship on Zoom, we have developed a set of Zoom Worship guidelines. For those who would like to learn more about Zoom in advance, go to https://westernfriend.org/media/how-use-zoom-videoconferencing. If you would rather sit in Silent Worship quietly at home rather than online, we invite you to send after-thoughts, joys and concerns, and requests to hold people in the Light to Rhonda at classes(at)renofriends.org. Our worship clerk will read them at the next Silent Worship.
Occasionally, we may need to run Parallel Silent Worship, which means that the Zoom Meeting will be separate from the In-Person Meeting in the Meeting House. For Parallel Zoom Worship, use the Zoom link above.
First Day School: Sun. Sept. 11 on Zoom; Sun. Sept. 25 in-person outside at the Meeting House, 11-12 am
First Day School meets in Zoom classes on the second Sunday of the month and in-person on the fourth Sunday/Potluck Sunday. The theme for September is the Equality/Equity Testimony. On in-person Sundays, the children sit in worship with their parents for the first ten to fifteen minutes before class and then hold class outdoors for COVID safety, as weather allows. Please contact the Meeting if you are interested in bringing children to the First Day School for the first time or would like to have your children attend First Day School on a Sunday other than the second or fourth Sundays. You can email us at clerk (at) renofriends.org.
First Day School’s focus in July was the Integrity Testimony. The children explored John Lewis’ March, his autobiographic graphic novel trilogy. The children then created their own graphic novels; their hands were photographed for the FDS webpage as they worked. The theme in August was the Community Testimony. The kids discussed the concept of “Community,” including helping people and outreach to others, and during the in-person class painted “kindness rocks” to be left anonymously in communities of their choosing.
Our Religious Education Committee has written a new mission statement: The mission of Reno Friends Religious Education is to offer our youth opportunities to:
- Be part of an environment in which they feel loved, safe, respected and accepted.
- Deepen their understanding of Quaker testimonies, practices and history.
- Explore and experience the Light within themselves and in others.
- Actively participate and genuinely feel that they belong in our Quaker community.
Zoom Spiritual Discussions: Tues. Sept. 27, “Intro to Quakerism 101,” from 7 – 8:30 pm.
Please join us this Fall for Quakerism 101, several spiritual discussions on various Quaker themes, testimonies and questions. Our spiritual discussions are held on Zoom, on fourth Tuesdays, from 7- 8:30 pm. Our session this month, on Tues. Sept. 27, will focus on identifying which “Quakerism 101” topics the group would like to explore over the next several months. The Zoom links and background info on each topic will be sent out in the RFM Weekly Updates. Please contact clerk (at) renofriends.org if you are interested in attending.
The Spiritual Discussion Committee includes: Rhonda Ashurst, Earl Piercy, Catie Polley and Cliff Smith. We will facilitate discussions as a team this year. We welcome your ideas/topics. We encourage you to join us to facilitate a topic of interest to you.
The Reno Friends Book Club, Sept. 13, from 4-5 pm
Reno Friends has started a book club! The RFM Book Club will meet on second Tuesdays, from 4-5 pm. via Zoom.
- For our next Zoom discussion on Tues. September 13th, we are reading The Friendly Persuasion by Jessamyn West. This story is about a Quaker family during the Civil War, and the book was made into a movie.
- For our Oct. 11th discussion, we will read How We Show Up by Mia Birdsong.
- For the Nov. 8th discussion, we will read The Barn at the End of The World: The Apprenticeship of a Quaker Buddhist Shepherd by Mary Rose O’Reilley.
Questions for the group to discuss can be sent to the the book club moderator, Peggy, at bookclub (at) renofriends.org. The Zoom link will be sent out in the RFM Weekly Update email.
Embodying the Light: Wed. Sept. 7 at Lake Park (Bonus Session), and Wed. Sept. 14 on Zoom & Wed. Sept. 28 on Zoom. All from 10-11 am.
Rhonda Ashurst leads our “Embodying the Light” class of gentle yoga and Tai Chi/Qigong as a service to Reno Friends and the community. The class is usually held on Zoom from 10-11 am, on second and fourth Wednesdays. This month there will be a bonus session at Lake Park on Wed. Sept. 7, from 10-11 am. The regular Zoom sessions will be Wed. Sept. 14 and Wed. Sept. 28, from 10-11 am. The Zoom link will be sent in the Weekly Update. See our website for more details.
Brown Bag Lunch, Thurs. Sept. 15, at 12 noon
Join hosts Peg McCall and Melanie Scott for an in-person Brown Bag Lunch at the Meeting House on Thurs. Sept. 15 at 12 noon. Anyone who wants to share lunch and fellowship with other Reno Friends is welcome.
Peace & Social Concerns UNICEF Drive Success
Two Reno Friends committees, Peace and Social Concerns and Religious Education, partnered a few months ago to support UNICEF’s efforts in Ukraine. The RFM children worked all summer to collect donations and recently announced the success of their drive by displaying a larger-than-life check made out to UNICEF. The grand total was $444.54! Congratulations and thank you to our Meeting kids for making this drive a huge success.
UNICEF’s humanitarian work in Ukraine focuses on meeting the most critical urgent needs of children for safety, health care, safe water and nutrition, while also safeguarding children’s rights and long term well-being. Schools, hospitals and critical infrastructure continue to be targeted in the war, disrupting and limiting access to essential services to kids. UNICEF is also providing medicines, midwifery kits, surgical kits and other lifesaving supplies to health facilities where women have been giving birth in makeshift basement bunkers since the war started. The humanitarian crisis continues to be acute.
Thank you, as well, to all Reno Friends for your very generous support of both the children in our First Day School AND the children in a far away, war-torn land.
Donating to Reno Friends in 2022
If you would like to support Reno Friends Meeting this summer, donations should be sent to our Meeting Co-Treasurer Katie Dwyer at her home at 40 Arbor Oak Court, Reno, NV 89509. Or you can send money to the Meeting via your bank using the Zelle payment application, which most banks offer for free. To make a Zelle transfer, you’ll need Reno Friends’ bank account number, which you can get by emailing Charlie at treasurer (at) renofriends.org. Zelle eliminates the need to write a check and, for our Treasurers, to deposit your check at the bank. Thank you from Reno Friends!
The RFM Spiritual Discussion in August, Partnered with Quaker Earthcare Witness, Brought Together Quakers from Several Meetings
In August, Reno Friends invited Mary Ann Percy of Quaker Earthcare Witness to lead a Spiritual Discussion on “Living in Right Relationship with the Living World.” RFM also invited three other western Meetings — Humboldt, Grass Valley and Central Coast — to join the discussion. 31 people registered and at least 22 attended the Zoom event. Many thanks to Cheri Smith, our liaison with Quaker Earthcare Witness, and the RFM Spiritual Discussion team, led by Rhonda Ashurst, for putting together this important discussion.
Those who support Quaker Earthcare Witness, a Quaker-led environmental group, say they believe it is important for Quakers to have a place to share concerns about the planet within the context of Quaker values, while also being cared for. One member said: “It is inspiring to be a small part of a community of Earthcare activists.” If you’ve enjoyed and benefited from reading BeFriending Creation this year, please consider making a donation to support our efforts. In peace, Hayley Hathaway, Editor, BeFriending Creation
For suggestions of books recommended by Quaker Earthcare Witness, click here: https://www.quakerearthcare.org/article/qews-favorite-books
Carson City Worship Group
The Carson City worship group meets every Sunday of the month for unprogrammed worship from 11:30 am to 12:30 pm in the living room of the Rectory of St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Carson City. Attenders are asked to wear a mask. St. Peter’s, located at 314 North Division Street, occupies a small city block in the heart of Carson City’s Historic District. The Rectory, an historic two-story brick house, sits just south of the church building. If anyone would like to be connected to the Carson group, just email clerk(at)renofriends.org.
Quaker Mission Stamp Project
Read all about it! The current online Right Sharing of World Resources newsletter is focused on the stamp mission that Reno Friends Meeting has been supporting for decades. Learn how this Quaker organization helps women in Sierra Leon, Kenya, and India support themselves, which in turn helps their families and villages. https://rswr.org/sites/default/files/Newsletters/2022-Q1-Newsletter.pdf
Outside Non-Profits That Meet at the Quaker Meeting House
NOTE: These groups are negotiating their return to our Meeting House. Please contact the groups directly for updates.
Adult Children of Alcoholics and Dysfunctional Families meets every Thursday from 5:30 pm to 6:30 pm, and every Saturday from 5 pm to 6 pm. ACA is a world service 12-step program for those struggling with the legacy of growing up in an alcoholic or dysfunctional home. These groups are open to all.
Citizens Climate Lobby of Northern Nevada works with local and national legislators to pass a carbon tax and dividend to help stop global warming. CCL meets the 4th Tuesday of the month, 6:30 to 8 pm (except for Dec.). For more info, email Betsy Fadali at bfadali(at)sbcglobal.net. Feel free to bring friends and neighbors, if they are interested. For more on CCL, go to www.citizensclimatelobby.org.
Other Quaker Activities & Announcements
College Park Fall Quarterly Meeting
The next College Park Quarterly will be held Oct. 14-16 at Sierra Friends Center, near Nevada City, CA. Registration details will be posted online at https://collegeparkquarterlymeeting.org/.
Reno Friends Monthly Meeting is a member of College Park Quarterly Meeting (CPQM), a quarterly meeting of the unprogrammed Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in northern California and northern Nevada. CPQM holds Quarterly Meetings in the Winter, Spring and Fall, which are gatherings of Quakers from all the member Monthly Meetings, and it also provides support for member Meetings. There are 24 Monthly Meetings and six Worship Groups in CPQM.
Pacific Yearly Meeting
Pacific Yearly Meeting’s Annual Session 2022 was held July 22-27, 2022. You can read about the annual session on PacYM’s website, here.
Pacific Yearly Meeting is a community of “unprogrammed” Friends (Quaker) Meetings in parts of Mexico and the western USA. After decades of independence, PYM recently became affiliated with Friends General Conference. In FGC there is another PYM, Philadelphia Yearly Meeting, so Pacific Yearly Meeting is now known as PacYM instead. Reno Monthly Meeting is a member of PacYM, and uses the PacYM book Faith and Practice which sets out the beliefs of Friends, PacYM’s structures and processes, and the spiritual foundation of these processes and of our way of worship. Western Friend is the official publication of Quakers in Pacific, North Pacific, and Intermountain Yearly Meetings. PacYM is a year-round community, and holds a four-day summer gathering called “PacYM Annual Session.”
Ben Lomond Quaker Center, Ben Lomond, CA
Ben Lomond has announced a new Director of Quaker Center, Nico Wright, and a new Associate Director, Emily Carroll. For more information about Ben Lomond Quaker Center programs and retreats, including Worship Sharing and Silent Worship, or to donate, go to http://www.quakercenter.org.
Camp Woolman at Sierra Friends Center
Camp Woolman’s 2022 season has concluded, serving 93 youth with life-changing residential camp experiences, including backpacking excursions in the High Sierras. Please contact Programs Director Morgan Street (morgans @ woolman.org) with questions about Camp Woolman’s 2023 season.
Write for What Canst Thou Say?
Tell us your stories! What Canst Thou Say? (WCTS) is an independent publication co-operatively produced by Friends with an interest in mystical experience and contemplative practice. WCTS is a worship-sharing group in print. We hope to help Friends be tender and open to the Spirit. Articles that best communicate to our readers are those that focus on specific events and are written in the first person. We welcome submissions of articles less than 1500 words and artwork suitable for black and white reproduction. It is published in February, May, August, and November. The editorial and production team is Muriel Dimock, Lissa Field, Mariellen Gilpin, Judy Lumb, Grayce Mesner, Mike Resman, Earl Smith, Eleanor Warnock, and Rhonda Ashurst.
Reno Friends are welcome to email submissions to Rhonda Ashurst at classes (at) renofriends.org. Please send your text submissions in Word or generic text format, and artwork in high resolution jpeg files. Photocopied art and typed submissions are also accepted. All authors and artists retain copyright to their articles and artwork published in WCTS. WCTS retains the right to publish initially and to reprint in WCTS anthologies.
Reno Friends Newsletter: How To Contribute
Submissions: Please submit your items for the newsletter by the 25th of the month for inclusion in the following month’s newsletter. Send Friends events and information to Reno Friends newsletter editor Wendy Swallow, wswallow54 (at) gmail.com.
Getting the newsletter in the mail: If you need to receive your newsletter by postal mail, please notify RFM newsletter editor Wendy Swallow by emailing wswallow54(at)gmail.com or calling 775-473-5559.
Subscribing and Unsubscribing: We use the same email list for all our communications, including the monthly newsletter and the weekly email update.
- To subscribe to our email list, attend Silent Worship with us either virtually or in person and be sure that we get your email address. Add the address “update (at) renofriends.org” to your email address book to help keep our email from going in to your spam folder. If email from us still goes into your spam folder, go into your spam folder, find the email from us, and mark it as “not SPAM.”
- To unsubscribe to the mailing list, email clerk (at) renofriends.org with the subject line “unsubscribe.”